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Wolverine: Election Day (novel)
Supporting Characters: * * * * * Villains: * * Alex Palmer's friends * * Hunt * ** ** Quince ** ** Kaz * Other Characters: * Mr. Schwartz * * * Unnamed sergeant * Unnamed MPs * Major Concord * Unnamed BNE agents ** Agent Jenkins * * * Unnamed president * Unnamed chief of staff * Unnamed attorney general * Unnamed campaign director * Unnamed truck driver * (reporter) * Pamela (reporter) * Locations: * Fort Randolph * Ellen Hayes' home * Len's Motel * ** ** Santangelo Funeral Home ** ** Y Street Convention Center * Mazone campaign Headquarters * ** * Elk Run (Hunt's residence) * Dragon's Lair * BNE Headquarters Items: * Vehicles: * Black Hawk helicopter * Motorcycle * Kaz's blue four-by-four * Haze's seaplane | Plot = Overview When a child, Matthew Hayes, is kidnapped and held hostage by terrorists bent on influencing the approaching presidential election, it is up to Wolverine and his reluctant ally, Corporal Westlake, to save the boy and uncover a broader scheme. Plot synopsis Matthew Hayes' social studies teacher, Mr. Schwartz, gives the class an assignment to study the two presidential candidates for the next term. Even after the course, Matthew gains an interest in the subject. He studies a speech given by presidential candidate Winston Mazone, and becomes convinced that Senator Mazone would be a better president than the current one. His attention is soon diverted by the reality TV show Kaz, about a bounty hunter with alien-bestowed superpowers. Suddenly, a kidnapper bursts through the window and stuffs Matthew into a bag. At Fort Randolph, five corporals get into an argument over a card game. Corporal Tony Westlake passes by the argument and his skin turns crimson red. Corporal Alex Palmer calls him a freak and Corporal Jason Wright overturns the card table. Three military policemen arrive, and the fight abruptly stops. That night, Palmer and his friends kidnap Westlake and tell him to leave the army. Wolverine (aka Logan) takes down Palmer and his friends and drives Westlake back to the barracks. General Tiberius Doyle and Major Concord discuss the search efforts for the man who saved Westlake. Doyle finds Wolverine sitting across his desk. Concord tries to bring all personnel to detain the man, but Doyle tells him not to bother and commands him to leave the office. Logan tells Doyle that he has been monitoring the activities of the mutant Westlake and sensed the discrimination. Logan then talks with Westlake, giving him the offer to join the X-Men. Westlake does not seem so sure that leaving the army is the best course of action, and Logan gives him two more days to think about it. Doyle then tells Logan that a bigger issue has cropped up. On the television channel Doyle shows to Logan, a masked man holds a gun up to Matthew Hayes as he reads a piece of paper. Hayes says that unless Senator Mazone becomes president, his captives will shoot him on election day. Doyle asks Logan for help with the situation, saying that he is the best. Logan says that since the kid is not a mutant, he even though he cares for the boy, he will not bother going out of his way to save gun when there are other capable heroes that could handle the kidnappers. At the Hayes household, Ellen Hayes deals with the emotional roller coaster her son's to kidnapping as FBI and BNE agents investigate the situation and ask Ellen questions. BNE Agent Craig shows her the tape of her son before its press release. Kaz from the show arrives and offers to help find the boy, and Ellen accepts his help. Westlake shows up at Logan's apartment and asks him to help find the kidnapped boy. Westlake says the publicity that he would get for saving the boy could help mutantkind become more accepted in society. Logan decides to accept the mission and asks Doyle for a helicopter for transportation and Westlake for his mutant power to detect when someone is lying. At his campaign headquarters, Mazone talks with his campaign manager, Caroline O'Shea, about their current situation. She perceives it as a no-win situation for both of them because Mazone will likely be blamed for the terrorist plot if he wins, or the boy will die if he loses. Suddenly, O'Shea informs Mazone that he has to visit the men's room, where he meets Kaz. Kaz says he is willing to find and rescue the boy and use the positive press to feed Mazone's campaign. Worried that the boy might accidentally die during a confrontation, Mazone compromises the offer by saying he will report any information Kaz provides to federal agents. Logan and Westlake arrive at the Hayes household and are joined by Craig. Ellen Hayes tells Logan what she saw when her son was kidnapped. Logan goes to Matthew's bedroom and sniffs the shattered glass to pick up four individual scents in addition to the boy's. Craig and Westlake follow Logan through the woods to a small private airfield. Logan speaks with the owner of the airfield, Albert Danson, about the kidnapping. Danson denies any involvement with the terrorist plot, and Westlake turns red to indicate he is lying. Craig tries to bring Danson in for questioning, but Logan, determined to do things his way, knocks out the agent. At the Oval Office, the president discusses the election with his chief of staff, attorney general, and campaign director, in light of the recent terrorist threats. The attorney general says they might be able to set aside the election results if they had evidence that the public was being terrorized to change their vote. The campaign director suggests that the president withdraw from the election race and step aside as vice president. The president shrugs at this, and says setting aside the results might be viewed as an effort to overthrow the government. Logan dangles Danson over the side of the cliff by his ankle and interrogates him, using Westlake as his lie detector. Danson says two guys wearing baseball caps and sunglasses hired him for fifty thousand dollars. He says one of the guys had a U-shaped scar on his chin and a dragon and lion tattoo on the back of his head. They leave the tied up Danson behind for Craig to collect once he regains consciousness. Logan recognizes the tattoo as the mark of the previously thought deceased Dragon Corps, and Doyle shows them the team's profiles. Logan and Westlake investigate Chicago, the old "stomping ground" of Dragon Corps member with the U-shaped scar, Eli "Brawn" Brohn. Since everybody there still thinks Brawn is dead, they investigate a few more places associated with the Dragon Corps and discover Brawn's go-to guy and weapons supplier, Hunt. Logan sneaks up to Hunt's old building and slices his rifle. Logan discovers that Hunt is a mutant with the power to phase through walls. Logan checks the basement, but Hunt sets off an explosive before phasing out. A soldier attacks Hunt and asks him for information on Eli Brohn. Kaz stops the soldier and they "chat." Westlake meets up with Logan, who has recovered from the explosion and tells Westlake that Hunt is now dead. Logan rides with Westlake on motorcycle as Logan tracks down the scent of Hunt's killer to Kaz. Logan jumps onto Kaz's four-by-four and they start pounding each other as the vehicle spins out of control. When Logan prepares to strike with his claws, Kaz says a sniper actually killed Hunt. Logan brings Kaz to Westlake to fact-check him. Kaz says Hunt told him the location of the boy before the sniper got him and that he has a deal with Senator Mazone to report any information he gains about the boy to the senator. Logan and Kaz get a lift to the airport from a truck driver. Logan, Westlake, and Kaz watch a news report in the O'Hare Airport, announcing that Mazone has been arrested for suspected involvement in the terrorist plot. Kaz still keeps the boy's location to himself, fearing Logan might ditch him and find the boy for himself. Instead, Kaz tells Logan to sit in the passenger seat while he locates the boy. The president watches as protests outside the White House grow. His chief of staff shows him footage from Larry King's show, where Ellen Hayes denounces the president's war policy at the request of an antiwar organization. The chief of staff says that even if Mazone was cleared of his charges, the American public will still think he masterminded the operation. Westlake, Logan, and Kaz fly in the Black Hawk chopper to the coordinates Kaz provides. The Black Hawk warns them of three heat-seeking missiles. They send a flare to stop two of them, and Westlake fires a missile at the third. However, a piece of shrapnel slams against the propeller and knocks the chopper out of the sky. Logan and Westlake escape the chopper as it starts sinking and inflate a lifeboat. Logan searches for Kaz, but cannot find him. The two mutants row in the lifeboat toward the island coordinates. Storm clouds start rolling in and Westlake notices sharks swimming near the boat. The lifeboat capsizes in the storm and Westlake battles a shark, using his rifle to kill it. Meanwhile, Logan puts the lifeboat upright and pulls Westlake back in. A larger shark attacks the boat, and Logan attacks it while Westlake rows to the island. Logan catches up with Westlake as they climb a cliff. At the top, the find federal agents have already arrived and found the boy's body. Kaz says he did not have anything to do with the kidnapping, and Westlake confirms that he is telling the truth. With Mazone facing numerous charges, vice-presidential candidate Steve Sanders enters the political spotlight. Eli Brohn, disguised as a room-service waiter, sneaks into Sanders' hotel room. Sanders says that he is disappointed there is some awareness that the Dragon Corps were involved in the kidnapping and death. Logan asks General Doyle about continuing his search for the Dragon Corps, but the general refuses to give him the equipment. Logan asks Doyle to clear the way for him to attend the boy's funeral in Washington. Logan convinces Westlake to see the mission through and join him at the funeral. The president arrives at the funeral and meets Ellen Hayes. He expresses sorrow and empathy for the loss of her boy. Meanwhile, Logan gets through security with Agent Craig's help. Sander speaks with the president about the tragedy. The Secret Service members disrupt their conversation by clustering around him as soon as screaming and shouting can be heard. Logan and Westlake talk with Ellen about their failed mission, and Logan vows to take care of the men responsible. Logan approaches the coffin and declares that the corpse is not Matthew because it has a different scent. Logan interrogates the corpse until it exclaims and grows larger and distorted. The figure leaps out of the funeral through the skylight. Logan follow the shape shifter through a crowd of protestors outside the White House. The crowd parts as the two start fighting. The shape shifter tries smothering Logan, who uses his claws to escape. The shape shifter retreats through the sewer grating. Logan pursues him in the sewer, although without the benefit of using his highly developed sense of smell. Quince the shape shifter continues trudging through the until he feels sure he is not being followed. He steals some clothes from a homeless person and goes to the Potomac River where Haze picks him up in a seaplane. Back at the funeral home, Craig works with his forensics team while Westlake talk to him. Eventually, Craig orders Westlake's arrest, promising he will make up some charges. In return Westlake requests Craig's presence so he can "confess" to the crime. Instead, he tells Craig that he turned red during the shape shifter's escape, meaning somebody had lied. Craig says he will have his team analyze the tapes to see if he can find out who lied and what that person lied about. As Haze flies back to the "Dragon's Lair," Quince notices an irregularity in the seaplane's shadow. He looks down and sees Logan clinging to a pontoon. Quince knocks him off the plane by firing at the stowaway's face, and alerts Haze. With the help of a reluctant dolphin, Logan makes the swim to the island in a couple of minutes. Once again, he catches the shape shifter's scent and follows it until he loses the trail. Suddenly, Kaz starts firing bullets at Logan's head at point-blank range. The chief of staff tries to persuade the president to use his powers granted under the War Powers Act to declare that the election results do not reflect the actual views of the American public because of the terrorist plot. Although the president feels that the public will perceive his actions as overthrowing the election results, he decides to work with the chief of staff's plan. Logan dodges Kaz's bullet and it only grazes his forehead. Logan soon realizes that Kaz is using mutant abilities to dampen his healing factor, and figures that he can use it to dampen any mutant powers. They fight, and Logan retreats to regain his healing factor. Logan jumps over a ravine and prepares to latch on to the opposite wall, but Kaz shoots him and sends him falling into the water down a waterfall. Kaz calls Haze, telling him that Logan escaped. In the Dragon's Lair, the previously thought dead Robert Hayes (aka Haze) tells his son, Matthew Hayes, that he has to relocate to someplace secure and puts him in the safe room. Craig studies the footage from the funeral home and tries to find the liar in the group. Westlake suggests they should just get everybody from the crowd and question them. Craig then tells Westlake he can go vote at the polls with an absentee ballot. He decides to head back due to the large crowd at the polls and finds Ellen protesting on a platforming. A man announces that the president will speak at nine thirty, and Westlake tries to get Ellen to leave her platform, but she refuses. Logan hugs the shoreline and encounters some of the island's booby traps before facing Brawn, who throws Logan across the river. Logan recuperates and allows Brawn to see an opening and charge at him. Logan disarms the Brawn, who suddenly vanishes and attacks Logan. Logan discovers that Brawn is using Haze's powers to achieve invisibility. The cliffs crumble and three short-range ballistic missiles knock him into a grove of trees. After stumbling into another booby trap, Logan decides to keep still so his attackers have to pursue him. Meanwhile, the president issues a speech saying that he will have to set aside the election results so that the American people can vote without terrorist threats on their minds. Together, Brawn and Haze try to track down Logan. Suddenly, Haze disappears and Brawn suspects Logan is traveling by the trees. Brawn notices one of Haze's grenades being dropped and runs away, avoiding the brunt of the impact. Logan gains the upper hand in the ensuing battle, but Brawn commits suicide using Logan's claws rather than surrendering. Haze hangs out in the snare-work in which Logan had trapped him. Hayes reveal to Logan that he is Matthew's father, and Logan ties and gags him again. Kaz searches the island for Logan, but instead notices an injured man he believes is Brawn because the man's DNA does not trigger the booby traps. However, once he gets close enough, he realizes that it is actually Logan using Brawn's DNA for safety. Kaz uses the manual override switch of a booby trap to attack Logan. In the confusion, Kaz accidentally attacks Quince with the laser cannon, soon killing him. Logan finds the Dragon's Lair and tells Matthew that they have to escape before a bomb explodes. Meanwhile, the American people give an almost uniformly negative reaction to the president's announcement. As a soldier, Westlake tries to manage the crowd around Ellen Hayes, and more soldiers pour into the streets. Some kid throws a firecracker into the air, and many of the soldiers, thinking they are under attack, fire back warning shots. The crowd reaches a frenzy as they try to seek protection. Westlake notices Ellen amid the crowd, getting trampled. He picks her up and brings her to a police car which speeds her away to the nearest hospital. Logan tells Robert Hayes that his son has the mutant ability to use his hands to generate concussive forces before letting him free. Robert pilots the plane back, and Logan asks if anyone else was in on the scheme. Robert says he does not know, as not every member in the group was told everything. Kaz flies in on another one of the Dragon Corps' planes and attacks Robert's plane. Logan dives after Kaz's plane and breaks in, digging his claws into Kaz's chest during the struggle. Before dying, Kaz says he is working for the mysterious "Dragon," the leader of the Dragon Corps. Logan buries Kaz at sea before Robert picks him up. Westlake waits in the hospital waiting room for any news of Ellen's condition. Craig tells him that she is in stable condition and invites him to Steve Sanders' press conference. Craig and his men bring Westlake to the stage and inform Sanders of Westlake's mutant powers. Sanders maintains skepticism about Westlake being a human lie detector, and denies any involvement in the kidnapping, turning Westlake's skin red. Logan shows up at the conference bringing Robert and Matthew Hayes. Surrounded by Secret Service agents, Matthew uses his powers on the crowd, creating earthquake-like results. Sanders slips away from the crowd to the roof and Logan pursues him. Secret Service agents swarm the roof top, arresting Logan but finding no sign of Sanders. Logan sits at BNE after explaining that Sanders jumped off the roof and disappeared. Doyle tells Logan he is clear to leave and the president walks into the room, asking Logan if he thinks he did what was right Logan replies that the president did what he thought was right, even though it was guided by his large ego. At the Hayes household, Westlake tells Ellen that he is leaving for Fort Randolph. He gives her a business card for the School for Gifted Youngsters, a school for mutants like Matthew. Logan asks Westlake if he wants to join the X-Men, but he turns down the offer, saying he will not be driven underground because he is a mutant. | Notes = | Trivia = | ISBN = * ISBN 9781416510765 | Links = }} Novels Category:Peter David/Writer